


Apocrypha

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [64]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 09:45:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6324370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf





	Apocrypha

Scully turns and walks slowly back to her sister's grave with Mulder trailing behind her. He keeps his pace steady, leaving her time to process what he's just told her. When she stops in front of the grave stone, he pauses for a moment before stepping up beside her. Her eyes read over the letters before her "Melissa Scully Beloved Sister and Daughter" over and over without really registering them. She lets her gaze fall to the flowers there. The bunch Mulder brought laid carefully beside the ones she had brought. She'd never bought her sister flowers before, and she was quite certain Mulder never had either. Melissa would have loved them. Anything bright and beautiful always made her smile. 

She gives a barely perceptible nod towards the flowers Mulder brought and whispers, "Thank you." Scully knows they were more for her benefit than for Melissa's. The whisper is not for confidentiality, rather it is all her constricted throat will allow.

She holds back her tears even as Mulder slides a hand across and down her back, allowing it to rest low there. He puts his free hand in his pocket and stares at the grave stone. He feels a certain longing, not only for the kind of relationship Scully had cultivated with her sister over the years, but also for the simple fact that she now has a marked place to stand and grieve her loss. His own loss was, for the most part, unquantifiable to most. There was no body and no grave site; merely a void. Scully understood though, and had always respected his chosen method of 'grieving'. And in that vein, he would stand at her side for as long as she needed to stand in the cemetery. 

"When are you going to tell your mother?" he ventures when he thought enough time had passed.

Scully shrugs. She hadn't even had time to tell her mother about the FBI making her sister's case inactive yet. She could bypass that now, at least. But she hadn't begun to process catching her sister's killer, and now she had to process his death. She supposed it would be better to tell her mother while the news was still fresh. Like herself, Mrs. Scully never took kindly to having things kept from her. "I'll probably just go home and change and then head over there."

"You want me to go with you?" he asks, running his hand up and down her back once more before putting it in his pocket.

She seems to think about it for a moment before letting out a long sigh. "No, I should go by myself. Thank you though."

Mulder only nods, understanding her need for privacy. Another few minutes of silence before Scully makes the sign of the cross, kisses her fingertips, and touches the top of her sister's grave stone. She takes a step back and heads slowly for her car. Mulder watches her easy, yet thoughtful movements with all the wonder of someone quietly mesmerized by the rituals of organized religion, and follows behind her.

"Maybe I'll stop by later; bring over some dinner?" he proposes, leaning in the direction of his own car, parked just behind hers.

"I don't know how late I'll be at my mom's," she says apologetically.

"I'll be up, I'm sure. Call me if you want to."

Scully nods, wanting to say more, but unable to. She is inclined to hug him, a thank you mostly, but for comfort also. But he's already stepped away from her, and so she holds out her left hand instead. He does the same and takes hers, though not quite shaking hands. They remain that way for a moment, past the length of time it should have grown awkward, until finally Scully gives him a crooked smile.

"I'll talk to you later," she promises before getting into her car.


End file.
